Girl group Flo: ‘British R&B artists struggle to be heard’
2023 was supposed to be Flo’s year.
A few months before the calendars changed, the London-based girl group caused a huge sensation with their debut single Cardboard Box. This single was a saucy farewell to a cheating ex and was inspired by the girl group sounds of En Vogue, SWV and Destiny’s Child.
Selling 205,000 copies, the song helped the trio top the BBC’s Sound Of 2023 poll (beating Fred Again into second place) and become the first girl group to win the Brits’ Rising Star award.
Immediately following these accolades, they scored their first Top 40 hit with Fly Girl, which featured rare guest artist Missy Elliot.
Then… silence.
The band’s debut album, Access All Areas, was originally planned to be released last year, but was constantly postponed. Usually this means problems behind the scenes. Internal strife, personnel problems, record label machinations.
But Jorja Douglas, Renée Downer and Stella Quaresma reject these stereotypes.
Instead, they say they’re focused on making the best album possible, even if it means keeping their fans waiting.
“We can’t just release any old music,” says Douglas.
“We take this very seriously and, especially for our first album, we want to represent ourselves in the best light, with the best message.”
As a result, this meant that many completed tracks were thrown away in the middle of recording sessions.
They did this on the advice of US management company LVRN (Love Renaissance), which helped launch the careers of Summer Walker and 6lack.
“They came on board during the recording process and said, ‘C’mon guys, this isn’t going to be enough,'” Downer recalls.
“It was hard to hear because you get prejudiced [towards the songs you have], but they really opened us up to the fact that we can do better.
“We are very open to criticism, even if we are a little emotional at the time.
“But then we quickly realized, okay, this is for the good.”
The revived band redoubled their efforts, crossing the Atlantic to work with new writers and producers, “filling in the gaps” in their lyrical themes and “developing their sound”.
“It was a long process because it was so detailed,” explains Downer.
It was worth the wait.
Flo’s debut album, Access All Areas, released last month, quickly received rave reviews.
Pitchfork said, “If the main job of a girl group is to harmonize for days and create songs that roll like marbles in your head, Access All Areas achieves this.” Pitchfork gave the album 8 out of 10.
DIY called it “a definitive debut”, while Rolling Stone asked: “Is Flo the best girl group of the future?”
The album debuted at number three in the UK, making Flo the highest-charting British R&B girl group in 23 years (matching Mis-Teeq’s debut album Lickin’ On Both Sides).
“We are grateful that everyone enjoyed it,” says Douglas. “I feel like our artistry is a little more real, we’re bringing a little more credibility to our names, and we’re moving in the right direction.”
In a way, their success seems predetermined.
Since Little Mix’s breakup, there’s been a girl group-shaped void in the pop charts. And, since pop has always moved in 20-year cycles, there’s been a resurgence of interest in the harmony-driven hits of the 2000s.
Flo knows these songs inside out. Although Quaresma “wasn’t born yet” when Mis-Teeq entered the top three, the girls grew up on the music of Brandy, Faith Evans and Mariah Carey.
This education came at home. All three are only children, and all three were raised by single mothers who were passionate about music.
Their shared history helped create a unique bond between them: first on stage, where Renee and Stella met at stage school, and then on stage, where they met Jorja at Flo’s audition.
“Being in a girl group is one thing, but finding each other gave it a whole new meaning,” Jorja said. he says.
“I wouldn’t feel the same if I was with two girls from different backgrounds.
“It’s like we’re all one person with a personality disorder!”
‘The hardest music to sell’
This strength kept them afloat in the early days when managers tried to change the band’s line-up; and led to them fighting to get their first single, Cardboard Box, against their record company’s advice.
An R&B education taught them not only how to fit in, but also how the music industry, especially in England, treated black women.
Up-and-coming artists like Jamelia, Sadie Ama and even Raye have been let down time and time again by record companies that didn’t know how to introduce R&B to UK audiences. Others, like Mahalia and Ella Mai, focused on cracking the US, where the genre has deeper roots.
“It’s my favorite music and it’s probably the hardest music to sell in this country,” Radio 2’s Trevor Nelson told The Guardian last year. “It just is. It always has been.”
In the song “I’m Just A Girl” from the album, Flo touches on this situation with a dark and electronic rhythm.
“How many black girls do you see center stage right now? / But now you’re wondering why they’re going to America.”
“I think we’ve been pretty lucky actually, but we’ve seen very few comments here and there or people not being used to the music we make,” Douglas says.
“When we go out in the UK, people love R&B, but I think the people who make the decisions in the industry in the UK aren’t very familiar with that music, so I think it can make people feel a little bit undervalued.
“I think what makes us different is that we talk about it,” Downer says. “We all think about that, every R&B artist in the UK. We’re not just making music and having it reach fewer people.
“We are very happy that we are starting to be seen as catalysts for change,” Quaresma adds, “but this is clearly a problem.”
For now, the three are playing the game. Access All Areas’ first single was the irresistibly catchy Walk Like This, a pop hit in R&B garb. They then targeted urban radio with the sinuous, serpentine grooves of Caught Up.
“We’re constantly bouncing back and forth between ‘this is a little more pop-inspired, this is more R&B,'” Downer says.
“Because of the world we live in, sometimes we have to be open to putting pop music first. But in a few years, things will be different.”
R&B enthusiasts are already hooked on the group’s seductive rhythms.
While Wicked star Cynthia Erivo voices the album’s introduction, names such as Chlöe and Halle, GloRilla and Bree Runway appear as guests in the deluxe version.
They were VIP guests on Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour last year (“Right next to her dad. We were a little nervous, to be honest”) and spent the autumn on the road with US soul star Kehlani.
“It shows us the orbit,” Downer says. “Obviously, we won’t be doing anything like Renaissance for years – but it’s nice to start imagining the roadmap for our live shows.”
This reminds me: The last time Flo and I talked was in 2022, and they were given a treadmill so they could build their endurance so they could sing and run at the same time. How did this work?
“It didn’t take very long,” Quaresma admits. “Mine was sold.”
The lack of stamina hit them during the US tour – not on stage but at the tour afterparty.
“We were in New Orleans and Kehlani insisted we try a mechanical bull,” says Downer.
“We were all so bad,” Quaresma laughs. “It’s a lot harder than it looks.”
“I thought I had core strength, but I didn’t,” says Douglas.
“It’s not just core strength,” Downer adds. “Thighs, legs, arms.”
“Maybe next round we should get mechanical bulls instead of treadmills.”